Peace - Questions for Reflection

1)      In many traditional church settings, discussions of peace focus exclusively on personal feelings of contentment or lack of disruption. What is the range of Jesus’ distinct references to peace?

2)      If Jesus is the “Prince of Peace,” as Isiah prophesies, how does this guide your understanding of a spiritual journey?

3)      Do faith communities have a responsibility to be involved in – or at least knowledgeable about – politics and issues of world peace? If not, why not? If so, in what ways?

4)      Describe a time in which you encountered someone you instinctively and actively disliked. Were you ashamed of your feelings or do you believe they were justified?

5)      Would you classify yourself as being of the “flight” or “fight” species? How does this impact your ability or give you difficulty in handling conflict?

6)      Do you think of yourself as having enemies? Without using an actual name, describe why they’ve earned your hostility, or you’ve earned theirs. In active, real life terms, what does it mean to love one’s enemies? What would it take in your life to accomplish this?

7)      Think outside the box. What specific activity or involvement might you be willing to try in order to stretch your own understanding of living into peace?

8)      In what ways do followers of Christ do an exemplary job of promoting peace, however you choose to define that word? In what ways not?

9)      On the national or international scene, what do you consider to be the most hopeless situation in terms of the lack of peace? What does it mean to pray for peace? Is it naïve? Is it helpful? What specific practices might accompany praying for peace?

10)   How are personal peace and world peace related, or are they?

Holiness - Questions for Reflection

1)    Does the word holiness have positive connotations for you? Along these lines, if holiness were a person, what would he or she look like?
2)    With the idea of Jesus as merely the dispenser of cheap, easy grace, how would you rewrite the Ten Commandments in modern day language?
3)    Can shame ever serve a useful purpose in a spiritual journey?
4)    In terms of Christian practices such as fasting, silence, reading scripture, or a daily rhythm of prayer, what if anything have you found helpful in the past in your own pursuit of holiness? If your spiritual journey is in its early stages, what practices do you find most daunting?
5)    What are some specific ways in which you could reorder your days to chisel out time for spiritual disciplines?
6)    What role does solitude play in your life? Is solitude something you crave more of, or something that makes you uneasy after a short time? How important should it be in a spiritual journey?
7)    Try making a list of the optional uses of your time – not, for example, showering or feeding the dog. Are there days in which TV could be omitted or lunch skipped?

Wisdom - Questions for Reflection

1)    What is your personal definition of wisdom?
2)    Describe a time when you have tried to appear to be something or someone you were not.
3)    Looking at those lives close to you and your own life, do you see any truth to the old saying “older but wiser”?
4)    When have you witnessed remarkable wisdom – particularly of a spiritual sort – in a young person?

Rosary Army

This is cool!

As we saw a couple a weeks back, a young lady at our meeting was making hand knotted rosaries.

Several people thought this was very neat so here is a link to show you how to make your own.

http://www.rosaryarmy.com/

This site has it all: written instructions, how-to video & a list of suppliers.

Questions about Community

1)    Write or tell a brief story describing a time in your life in which a particular community – whether family, neighbors, professional colleagues, or a community of faith – helped share your grief, stress, or concerns.
2)    Describe a time in your life when you helped shoulder the load of someone else’s grief or concerns.
3)    In what ways have you seen communities of faith do an extraordinarily go or horrifically poor job of sharing one another’s celebrations and sorrows?
4)    Ideally, how should people of faith be a transformative kind of community? Give specific examples of what you’ve observed, or what you wish you’d seen instead.
5)    If you’ve ever participated in the sacrament of communion, describe a time when you were particularly struck with the people around you and your connection to them through that service.
6)    By nature, do you lean more toward interconnectedness or an attitude of I Can Do It by Myself? How does this impact your spiritual journey?

Questions Regarding Resurrection

1)      1) What associations – both positive & negative – do you have with the words resurrection or risen?

      2) Thinking about your own past, what is appealing about a death of the old life and starting over? Is anything about that idea disturbing

      3)  Thinking about “David the Royal Screw UP”, what other biblical characters, early church leaders, saints, or generally respected cultural figures that also fit this general characterization come to your mind? Read Psalm 52 aloud. What particular phrases stand out to you?

4)     4) Describe one person (perhaps yourself) whose present situation appears to be absolutely beyond redemption. 5) What would it take, do you think, for that person to live into resurrection? If you are in a group discussion, feel free to change or omit actual names.

6)      6) Picturing your own inner life or that of someone close to you, if someone were to snap Extreme Makeover Home Edition “before” and “after” shots – or just “before” – what would they look like? Try avoiding church or spiritual language and instead use construction terminology: for example, foundation, rot, structural integrity, renovation, razing, etc.